Monday, June 26, 2017

Pregnant women allowed to kill? A new law in the US shocked the public

Republican lawmakers in New Hampshire made a mistake in creating a law that allows pregnant women to "commit any kind of murder without punishment."

The proposed law is one of a dozen laws on the killing of a fetus nationwide, which permits fetuses to be considered persons in cases of first-degree murder or negligent homicide.

The law defines the fetus as a person for 20 weeks after conception. Those who support the law claim that it will be able to punish anyone who causes a fetus death in an attack or a car accident.

However, human rights activists claim that the law can be interpreted as an attempt to ban abortion. Because of this, lawmakers added that women seeking medical abortion services were excluded from the new law.

The original text of the law stated that "all pregnant women who commit the crime of murder of the first and second degree" were excluded from it.

A Republican congressman warned that such a draft law allows pregnant women to kill people without any consequences. The lawmakers noticed the error only after the draft had passed the senate, but it was later revised.

"None of us voted that people were allowed to kill. That was not our intention," Republican Dick Hinch said.